Adelphi Records is an American

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded in 1968 and incorporated in 1970 by Gene Rosenthal.

History

The label name was crafted by Rosenthal to suggest a combination of the Greek oracle, nearby Adelphi, Maryland, as well as a tip of the hat to a John Fahey song, "The Downfall of the Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill". Extensive field recordings were begun in 1964 and expanded to include film documentation beginning in early/mid 1969, including sessions in Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis and the Mississippi Delta. In the 1970s, the label began issuing folk, jazz and blues-rock albums. The latter were significantly important to the development of that genre. In the mid-1970s, two of Adelphi's biggest selling artists were the Nighthawks and the Rosslyn Mountain Boys. Towards the end of the 1970s the label's sales and growth had significantly expanded. This was particularly marked in the early 1980s, when Adelphi established its wholly owned subsidiary label, Sunsplash Records, predominantly to issue Jamaican reggae performances from the 1982 Reggae Sunsplash Festival. Musician signings continued into the 1990s and, after a short hiatus, resumed in the 2000s with studio sessions in New Orleans by Ken Swartz & The Palace of Sin, and in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

sessions with the Rose Sheehan Group including vocals by Lisa Null.

Recordings

Musicians on that label are (among others) The Nighthawks, Catfish Hodge and Roy Buchanan, ( rock); Lenny Breau, Reuben Brown and Richie Cole (

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

); Yellowman,

Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican Toasting (J ...

and

Toots & the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

(

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

); Rev. Gary Davis, Gene Johnson, and Rev. Robert Wilkins (

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and

spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the exp ...

); plus Nathan Beauregard, Roy Book Binder, Roy Buchanan, R. L. Burnside, Gus Cannon, David Honeyboy Edwards, Paul Geremia, Mississippi John Hurt, Backwards Sam Firk, Richard "Hacksaw" Harney,

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "Coupling an oddball guitar tuning set against eerie, falsetto vocals, James' early recordings ...

, Furry Lewis, Bill Blue, Little Brother Montgomery, Charles Tyler and

Bukka White Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1906 – February 26, 1977) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. His first full-length biography'', The Life and Music of Booker "Bukka" White: Recalling the Blues'' (2024), has been ...

(blues), plus

Patrick Sky Patrick Sky (born Patrick Linch; October 2, 1940May 26, 2021) was an American musician, folk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was of Irish and Native American ancestry, and played Irish traditional music and uilleann pipes in the ...

(folk).

References

External links

Official Adelphi homepage

American record labels Record labels established in 1968 Blues record labels 1968 establishments in the United States {{US-record-label-stub

History

Recordings

See also

References

External links